(A) For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACT or THE ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.
APPROVING AUTHORITY. The Director of Water Resources of the town or his or her appointed agents, or, in their absence, the Director of the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Community Development, Division of Environmental Management.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF INDUSTRIAL USER. An authorized representative of an industrial user may be:
(a) A principal executive officer of at least the level of vice president, if the industrial user is a corporation;
(b) A general partner or proprietor, if the industrial user is a partnership or proprietorship, respectively; or
(c) A duly authorized representative of the individual designated above, if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facilities from which the indirect discharge originates.
BENEFICIAL USES. Uses of the waters of the state that may be protected against quality degradation, including domestic, municipal, agricultural, and industrial supply; power generation; recreation; aesthetic enjoyment; navigation; and the preservation and enhancement of fish, wildlife, and other aquatic resources or reserves; and other uses, both tangible and intangible, as specified by federal or state law.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND or B.O.D. The empirical test run in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for Analysis of Water and Wastewater, published by American Public Health Association and Water Pollution Control Federation, or Methods for the Analysis of Water and Wastes, published by E.P.A., to determine the relative oxygen requirements of wastewater’s effluents and polluted waters. B.O.D. is a measure of the oxygen required to oxidize the organic matter in a sample, through the action of microorganisms in that sample.
BUILDING SEWER. A sewer conveying wastewater from the premises of a user to a town sewer.
CATEGORICAL STANDARDS. The federal categorical pretreatment standards or pretreatment standard.
CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND or C.O.D. The quantity of oxygen used in the chemical oxidation or decomposition of organic substances in a sample.
COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. Pollutants such as B.O.D., T.S.S., pH, oil and grease, ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), and fecal coliform bacteria, plus any additional pollutants identified in the town’s national pollutant discharge elimination system (N.P.D.E.S.) permit, or any pollutants the town’s treatment work was designed to treat. The pollutants shall be amendable to the town’s biological waste treatment process; shall not cause the town to use additional chemicals, extra personnel, or cause undue wear or operating expenses; shall not cause the town’s wastewater treatment plant to exceed effluent limitations as set forth in the N.P.D.E.S. permit.
COOLING WATER. The water discharged from any use, such as air conditioning, cooling, or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat.
DIRECT DISCHARGE. The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the state.
DIRECTOR OF WATER RESOURCES. The director of water resources of the town or his or her authorized representative.
DOMESTIC WASTES. The liquid wastes from bathrooms, toilet rooms, home kitchens, and home laundries.
E.P.A. The federal agency named the Environmental Protection Agency.
EXCESSIVE RADIATION DOSE.
(a) A dose of radiation in excess of the maximum permissible dose.
(b) MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE DOSE. A dose of radiation to any part of the body, internal and external or both, that, in the light of current knowledge, is not expected to cause appreciable bodily injury to a person at any time during his or her lifetime.
(c) Application of this definition will conform to all federal and state regulations concerning the use of radioactive materials.
FEDERAL ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, being 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.
GRAB SAMPLE. A sample which is taken from a waste stream on a one-time basis with no regard to the flow in the waste stream and without consideration of time.
GREASE AND OILS. A group of substances with similar physical characteristics, including hydrocarbons, fatty acids, soaps, waxes, oils, and any other material that is extracted with a stated solvent from an acidified sample and that is not volatilized during the test.
HOLDING TANK WASTE. Any waste from holding tanks, such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks, and vacuum pump tank trucks.
INCOMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. Any pollutant which is not a compatible pollutant, as defined in this section.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE. The discharge or the introduction of nondomestic pollutants from any source regulated under §§ 307(b) or (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317) into the P.O.T.W., including holding tank waste discharged into the system.
INDUSTRIAL USER. A source of indirect discharge which does not constitute a discharge of pollutants under regulations issued pursuant to § 402 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1342.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE SURCHARGE. A charge placed on all users who discharge wastewaters having characteristics in excess of the limits set by this chapter on compatible pollutants.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. Liquid or water-carried wastes from institutional, commercial, and industrial processes and operations, as distinguished from domestic wastes.
INTERFERENCE. The inhibition or disruption of the P.O.T.W. treatment processes or operations which contributed to a violation of any requirement of the town’s N.P.D.E.S. permit. The term includes prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by the P.O.T.W. in accordance with § 405 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1345, or any criteria, guidelines, or regulations developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act (S.W.D.A.), being 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901 et seq.; the Clean Air Act, being 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 et seq.; the Toxic Substances Control Act, being 15 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq. or more stringent state criteria (including those contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Title IV of S.W.D.A.), being 42 U.S.C. §§ 6941 et seq. applicable to the method of disposal or use employed by the P.O.T.W.
MASS EMISSION RATE. The weight of material discharged to the town sewer system during a given time interval. Unless otherwise specified, the mass emission rate pounds per day of a particular constituent or combination of constituents.
MAY. The act referred to is permissive.
PERSON. Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine; the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.
pH. The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
POLLUTANT. Any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water.
POLLUTION. An alteration of the quality of the waters of the state by waste to a degree which unreasonably affects the waters for beneficial use or affects the facilities which serve the beneficial uses. Pollution may include contamination.
P.O.T.W. TREATMENT PLANT. That portion of the P.O.T.W. designed to provide treatment to wastewater.
PREMISES. A parcel of real estate or portion thereof, including any improvements thereon which is determined by the town to be a single user for purposes of receiving, using, and paying for service.
PRETREATMENT or TREATMENT. The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing the pollutants into a P.O.T.W. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes, or process changes other means, except as prohibited by 40 C.F.R. pt.403.6(d).
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a national pretreatment standard imposed on an industrial user.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (P.O.T.W.). Treatment works as defined by § 212 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1292, which is owned in this instance by the town. This definition includes any sewers that convey wastewater to the P.O.T.W. treatment plant, but does not include pipes, sewers, or other conveyances not connected to a facility providing treatment. For the purposes of this chapter, P.O.T.W. shall also include any sewers that convey wastewaters to the P.O.T.W. from persons outside the town who are, by contract or agreement with the town, users of the town’s P.O.T.W.
SHALL. The act referred to is mandatory.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER. Any industrial user of the town’s wastewater disposal system who:
(a) Has a discharge flow of 25,000 gallons or more per average work day;
(b) Has a flow greater than 5% of the flow in the town’s wastewater treatment system;
(c) Has, in his or her wastes, toxic pollutants as defined pursuant to 33 U.S.C. §§ 1317(a) et seq. of (state) statutes and rules; or
(d) Is found by the town, state control agency, or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) to have significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the wastewater treatment system, the quality of sludge, the system’s effluent quality, or air emissions generated by the system.
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (S.I.C.). A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, 1972.
STATE. State of North Carolina.
STORM DRAIN or STORM SEWER. A sewer which carries storm or surface waters, but not sewage or industrial wastes.
STORMWATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.
SUPERINTENDENT. The person designated by the town to supervise the operation of the publicly owned treatment works and who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this chapter, or his or her duly authorized representative.
TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (T.S.S.). The measure of the solids that either float on the surface or are held in suspension in wastes and which are removable from the liquid by laboratory filtering.
TOWN. The Town of White Lake, North Carolina, or any authorized official(s) acting on behalf of the town.
TOWN MANAGER. The Town Manager, or, in the event of no Town Manager, the Town Clerk, of the town.
TOWN SEWER. A sewer owned and operated by the town, tributary to a treatment facility operated by the town.
TOXIC POLLUTANT. Any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the provision of Clean Water Act, being 33 U.S.C. §§ 1317(a) et seq. or other Acts.
TREATMENT WORKS OR PLANT. Any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of municipal wastewater or industrial wastes of a liquid nature, including interceptor sewers, outfall sewers, wastewater collection systems, plumbing, power and other equipment and appurtenances, extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions and alterations, extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions and alterations thereof; elements essential to provide a reliable recycled supply such as standby treatment units, and clearwell storage facilities, and any works, including site acquisition of the land that will be an integral part of the treatment process or is used for ultimate disposal of residues resulting from the treatment; or any other method or system for preventing, abating, reducing, storing, treating, separating, or disposing of municipal wastes, including stormwater run-off, or industrial and sanitary sewer systems.
USER. Any person who contributed, causes, or permits the contribution of wastewater into the town’s P.O.T.W.
USER CHARGE SYSTEMS. The charge that users are required to pay for the right to discharge their type waters into the sewage system.
WASTE. Sewage and all other waste substances, liquid, solid, gaseous, or radioactive, associated with human habitation, or of human or animal origin, or from any reducing, manufacturing, or processing operation of whatever nature, including waste placed within containers for whatever nature prior to, and for purposes of, disposal.
WASTEWATER. Wastes and water, whether treated or untreated, discharged into a town sewer.
WASTEWATER CONSTITUENTS and CHARACTERISTICS. The individual chemical, physical, bacteriological, and radiological parameters, including volume and flow rate and other parameters that serve to define, classify, or measure the contents, quality, and strength of wastewater.
WATERS OF THE STATE. All streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems, and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon the state or any portion thereof.
(B) Other terms used in this chapter, but not defined hereinabove, shall have the meanings set forth in the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association (A.P.H.A.), the American Waterworks Association (A.W.W.A.), and the Water Pollution Control Federation (W.P.C.F.). Unless otherwise expressly stated in this chapter, waste constituents and characteristics shall be measured by methods set forth in the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, and/or Methods for Chemical Analysis of Waters and Wastes, published by the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.).
(1983 Code, § 17-61) (Ord. passed 9-13-1988)